The First Order

The business department employee welcomed the two of them into the building. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Ying Yuzheng, the supervisor of the Business Department. Let’s head upstairs to talk.”

After Ren Xiaosu walked into the building, he made an observation of the internal operations of Hope Media. The staff were walking around without any particularly tight security in place like it was just a normal office building.

Importantly, Hope Media supposedly made many enemies over the years and offended countless organizations. Shouldn’t a company like this be more careful?

When they arrived on the seventh floor, Ren Xiaosu heard a loud, clear voice lecturing someone the moment he stepped out of the elevator.

An old man holding a cane was saying to a young man, “We journalists need to respect the truth. Don’t you know what was wrong with the draft you submitted yesterday? Have you investigated the source or verified the facts? It’s absolutely unacceptable to write an article based on your own assumptions in order to attract the attention of readers! Every newspaper that goes out from here must report the facts. When people pick up a copy of today’s newspaper from Hope Media in the future, they’ll immediately learn about what truly happened today. That’s what our job’s about!”

The young reporter said, “But the other newspapers—”

“Others are others, Hope Media is Hope Media!” The old man holding a cane said, “Don’t forget, what was your intention when you first entered the industry? Was it for fame and fortune? If you want fame and fortune, I’ll write a recommendation letter for you to go work at Qinghe Group! We at Hope Media must always respect the truth and record history factually!”

The young reporter stopped talking.

Ying Yuzheng said to Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue with a smile, “I’m sorry you had to see that. Our chief editor has a short temper. This way please.”

He brought Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue into a meeting room where Ren Xiaosu saw some large red words written on the wall: “Seek truth from fact.”

Ren Xiaosu did not think there was anything wrong with the chief editor’s anger towards the reporter. In fact, it made him trust Hope Media more.

Ying Yuzheng sat on the opposite side at the conference table and asked warmly, “What sort of advertisement are you two looking to place?”

“It’s very simple.” Ren Xiaosu smiled and took out a piece of paper to explain, “I only need this to be published at the bottom of the fifth page. The ad will take up a quarter of the page.”

Ying Yuzheng took the note from him. There were only two sentences written on it. “Don’t let the sorrows of our era become your sorrow as well.”

The second sentence was: “61.”

This was the solution Ren Xiaosu had thought of. Since Hope Media’s newspaper circulation spread across the Central Plains, then if Old Wang were also in the Central Plains, he would definitely read such an influential newspaper to keep up with the current affairs.

Wang Fugui might not look like a very serious person, but actually, he was really meticulous and dependable. In the past, when Ren Xiaosu was still living in town, he would often see Wang Fugui reading the official newspaper of the Qing Consortium when he went to his grocery store. His reason for doing so was so that he could keep up with recent happenings and not be out of touch with the times.

Thus, Ren Xiaosu thought of placing an advertisement in Hope Media’s newspaper. Be it Yan Liuyuan or Wang Fugui, they would surely link it to him if they saw the message.

He had said these words to Yan Liuyuan in front of Old Wang. Xiaoyu would even occasionally bring it up in the presence of others, so it was a very iconic statement.

Meanwhile, the “61” below that statement was to indicate that he was going to settle down at Stronghold 61 soon. If Old Wang and the others saw it, they should go to Stronghold 61 to look for him.

This hint was not exactly obscure, but only Old Wang and Yan Liuyuan would know what it meant.

Ying Yuzheng looked at the note and wondered, “You’re just gonna advertise this?”

Usually, those who approached Hope Media to publish their advertisements would do so to promote their businesses, such as selling clothes or cosmetics. As for the advertisement that Ren Xiaosu was looking to place, it did not seem to serve any purpose at all.

Could it be that he was a spy from some organization using the advertisement to transmit an encrypted message? Ying Yuzheng was a little hesitant. This was something Hope Media frequently encountered. For example, the Riders’ earliest form of contact was through the use of Hope Media’s newspaper to transmit their messages. If they decrypted the messages with their key, they could get the information they wanted.

However, no spy would be so attention seeking as to advertise on the fifth page of the newspaper. The first four pages did not accept any advertisement placements, while advertising on the fifth page would be extremely expensive.

Ying Yuzheng looked at Ren Xiaosu and said, “May I know the purpose of this advertisement?”

Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, “Just take it that I’m spreading a positive message.”

“What does this ’61’ mean?” Ying Yuzheng asked.

“Oh, 61 refers to Children’s Day. I would like to wish everyone a happy Children’s Day in advance,” Ren Xiaosu explained without batting an eyelid.

Like hell Ying Yuzheng would believe that! It was still a long way to Children’s Day! He patiently said, “Sir, it’s November right now.”

“Mhm, we want the advertisement to be placed until June 1st of next year.” Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, “How much would that cost?”

This shocked Ying Yuzheng. Beside Ren Xiaosu, Zhou Yingxue could feel her heart aching. How much would it cost to have this quarter-page advertisement running for more than half a year?!

Ying Yuzheng did a rough calculation before saying to Ren Xiaosu, “Sorry, this account is a little too big for me to handle. I can’t make the decision, so please wait a moment.”

Just the advertising fee alone would come up to over two million yuan. Furthermore, he could not figure out Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue’s intentions for this advertisement.

Not long after Ying Yuzheng excused himself, Ren Xiaosu again heard the sound of a cane tapping on the ground outside the door. Right after, the chief editor pushed open the door and entered. The man’s gray hair was neatly combed, and he was wearing a black tunic suit. He looked very spirited.

The chief editor came to the conference table and picked up the note. He asked, “Is this the advertisement our two guests want to place in our newspaper?”

Ying Yuzheng said, “Yes.”

The chief editor was stunned when he saw the note. He could not help but mutter, “Don’t let the sorrows of our era become your sorrow as well….”

He looked up at Ren Xiaosu. “Who made this statement?”

“I did,” Ren Xiaosu said.

“Why did you say it?” The chief editor continued asking.

“Because I wanted to caution my younger brother not to be influenced by the sentiments of this era.” Ren Xiaosu said in a serious tone, “I just feel that I should be sharing this with more people by publishing it in the newspaper.”

The chief editor laughed. He was not going to be taken in by Ren Xiaosu’s nonsensical reason. However, he fell in love with the statement at the first instance.

The chief editor held the note in his hand and looked at it for a long time before saying, “You can just pay 20% of the fees. 400,000 yuan will be the advertising cost for the word ’61’ while the rest can be waived. I won’t ask you the reason for placing this ad, and I’ll have it published until June 1st of next year.”

Ying Yuzheng, who was standing off to the side, was stunned. A total of 1.6 million yuan was waived just like that!

Ren Xiaosu was also puzzled. “Why are you doing this?”

The chief editor waved the note in his hand and said, “This sentence alone is worth that much.”

Ren Xiaosu was moved. So it turned out there were still people in this era who valued a sentence that much.